The London mayor, Boris Johnson, is lobbying the government for permission to trial a pilot scheme that would see people convicted of alcohol-fuelled crime forced to stay sober or face prison.

Johnson is keen to introduce a "24/7 sobriety" programme which would involve people being forced to pay to be tested for alcohol twice a day after being convicted of drink-related crime.

Those who tested positive would appear in court and face the prospect of custody.

The scheme has already been implemented in the US state of South Dakota, which has reported a two-thirds drop in drink driving, a 99.6% compliance rate among the 16,000 people who have taken part and a 14% reduction in the prison population.

The mayor has no responsibilities over the criminal justice system, but a City Hall spokeswoman said his office had held "positive talks" with the government ministers about a pilot scheme in the capital.

Johnson's deputy mayor for policing, Kit Malthouse, said City Hall was keen to introduce a measure to reduce reoffending in the capital, which faces a "disproportionate" problem with around 50% more alcohol-related crimes per 1,000 than the rest of the country.

Malthouse – who also chairs the Metropolitan police authority and earlier this year revealed City Hall's desire to pilot the scheme.

"It's costing us a huge amount of money in terms of police time and NHS time," he told BBC Radio 5 Live. "So we put our thinking caps on and scoured the world for a scheme that might help us."

If those taking the tests were found to have consumed alcohol, they would go before a judge or magistrate, who would decide what punishment they should be given, he said, adding: "We would like to try it here. We do think drink is a great driver of crime in this city."

The scheme could be an alternative to prison or be used in conjunction with a custodial sentence, and would not cost the taxpayer a penny because individuals would have to pay for the tests themselves, Malthouse said.

Where it served as an alternative to prison, it would allow people to stay in employment because the tests would be conducted early in the morning and in the evening, he added, describing the idea as a "win/win".

"We would like to see this scheme piloted in London because the advantage is that not only is it punitive, it's also corrective," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"This is not about prevention. This is about dealing with people who have already committed a crime and convicted of a crime where alcohol has played a part ... "

Don Shenker, who runs Alcohol Concern, said he was dubious about the long-term benefits of the scheme.

"Being compulsorily sober is one thing, but what about when that compulsion ends?" he asked on the Today programme. "Do people then actually change their drinking behaviour?"

Shenker said alcohol referral schemes already in place in some areas allowed individuals to see specially trained counsellors to understand why they were drinking so much in the first place.

The brief interventions had shown high success rates, he added, but said the government had not been interested in extending schemes that were already proven to work to help moderate drinking in the long term.

"The government has not so far been interested in funding those schemes to a national level which reduce problem drinking," he added.

Malthouse said City Hall wanted the scheme as an extra tool in its armoury to tackle of problem drinking.

"We are talking here about people who have been convicted of alcohol-related crimes who would otherwise get prison, or a fine or a community service, which currently is not, we feel, correcting their behaviour and rehabilitating their behaviour in the way it should," he said.

The Ministry of Justice said ensuring alcohol-fulled crime was tackled more effectively was part of the assessment on sentencing and rehabilitation policy currently taking place.

A spokesman said: "We recognise alcohol can be a significant factor in some types of crime and are dedicated to tackling this.

"The Criminal Justice Act 2003 already allows judges and magistrates to issue community sentences which require offenders to undergo treatment for alcohol problems if they think that is appropriate. Last year, 6,545 alcohol treatment requirements were issued."

Johnson has made reducing crime in the capital a key priority of his mayoralty.

His first policy announcement after becoming mayor in 2008 was an alcohol ban on public transport, intended to improve safety and security for passengers.

About this article

This article was published on
the Guardian website
at 13.01 EDT on Wednesday 27 October 2010.
It was last modified at 23.21 EDT on Monday 19 May 2014.
It was first published at 04.59 EDT on Wednesday 27 October 2010.